As Jake and Ming watched the video programs, they learned more about the state of affairs on Replin. They often watched the Black Kingdom news and had been wondering if the presence of intelligent aliens visiting the planet would be publicly announced and whether that would be upsetting to the people. Eventually it became apparent that that information had not been publicized. The news did feature many stories about the food shortage gripping the Red and Black Kingdoms. The blame was placed squarely on the greedy Yellow Emperor who had a surplus but refused to export badly needed supplies. The Black Kingdom had the lowest quality arable land and poor rains the previous year had diminished a key crop, the source of the brown goo, called Nanba. There were implications that the Red Kingdom and the Black Kingdom should join together to take what they needed by force.
Ming who had been in communication with Jang had figured out the secret of why the colors were off in all the videos. The video displays were reflecting Replini biology. They had four color sensors in their ranine eyes: one for yellow, red-orange, red, and near-infrared. The video monitors all had four color light emitting diodes that matched the color sensors in their eyes. Tau Ceti produced light that was more reddish in color than the sun and apparently their eyes were oriented towards those colors. The plants were not generally green because their photosynthetic processes were more attuned to the different light production spectrum of the star.
As Tance explained, the building they were staying in was actually part of the palace complex that included the great courtyard and the natural area surrounding it. Jake had had a chance to walk with Skepre through the natural area and had a chance to observe some of the plants and animals. He learned that many of the plants, like on earth, were deciduous and were sprouting leaves now that spring had come. The leaves often started yellow and would turn from red to black as they matured. It was interesting that some of the plants had large flowers that were green in color and were being pollinated by hummingbird sized but otherwise bat-like creatures that must have taken the place of bees. The green flowers were actually quite a relief from the overwhelming red-orange-black color of the other plants. The grounds included water features and even a large fountain that was quite attractive. The sky was not a brilliant blue like it was on earth, the blue was rather tepid, but the purples, pinks, and golds of the yearlong sunrise at the South Pole were very pretty.
The palace complex was composed of many buildings. The main building that they had entered was not the Emperor’s actual residence but contained its dining hall and meeting rooms. The rooms were mostly Spartan except for the odd colors. All the buildings were covered in a marble-like stone façade and their decorative columns gave them a Greco-Roman look.
Tance gave them a basic understanding of Replini history. Replin didn’t have large oceans and the whole planet was easily accessible by land. It had been explored early in history and had been unified under one monarchy even before modern technology. Periodically, the world government would weaken and collapse into several competing empires but after a couple of millennia it would reform again. The long life expectancies of the monarchs tended to make them careful and conservative in trying to expand their empires through military means. There were very little in the way of hydrocarbon deposits or fissionable materials so technology had basically progressed from medieval to fusion in a relatively short period and stayed there. Atomic bombs were never invented and the large, expensive to build, fusion power plant technology was not amenable to making hydrogen bombs.
All warfare was bloody and costly, akin to World War II on earth. The Emperors had such long life expectancies, that they were very cautious and tried to use intrigue rather than outright warfare to attain their ends.
